Previews

Sid Meier's Pirates!

A classic PC game is reborn for a new generation, but it's still about pillaging and plundering.

Spiffy:

Lots of gameplay variety; easy to learn controls; fun Vs. mode.

Iffy:

The action looks like it might be repetitive; no online ship combat.

The original Sid Meier's Pirates! (Sid Meier, as you should know, is the mastermind behind the popular Civilization series) game was released way back in 1987 for PC, where it got massive amounts of critical praise and love from gamers. After years of demanding a sequel, Atari finally released one for PC last year. As luck would have it, the game turned out quite well. Now, the company is gearing up to bring this swashbuckling adventure to Xbox.

In Sid Meier's Pirates! (the new one), you are a pirate captain in the 17th century Caribbean. Your quest will consist of several different styles of gameplay and multiple goals woven into one grand experience. Since the game's nature is very open-ended, you decide what path to take. Your ultimate goal is to find and rescue the members of your kidnapped family, but along the way, you can discover lost cities, become a nobleman, and even get married. Of course, since you are a pirate, you're also trying to gather as much booty and fame as you can along the way.

Seriously, guys. You're gonna slip and somebody's gonna get hurt.

A Pirate's Life for Me

When you begin the game, you can choose from one of four different periods of time to begin. This will affect not only the maps that you'll explore, but also your pirating rivals.
You are then dropped into the sea and left to explore as you see fit.

As you sail, you'll find that each town is controlled by either the English, French, Dutch, or Spanish governments. Upon docking in a town, you'll be presented with several options. You could visit the tavern and chat up the locals, do a bit of trading, recruit men for your crew, divvy up your plunder (remember, your crew will only be loyal if they get paid), or visit the town's governor. You'll have a much easier time progressing if you're align yourself with one (or a few) of these nations by talking to the head of government. Getting on their good side can easily be done by bringing down another pirate who has been terrorizing the surrounding waters.

I'm Sailing Away

This, inevitably, leads to plenty of ship-to-ship combat. One might expect massive pirate ships launching cannonballs at each other to be a relatively slow paced battle, but this is anything but. Whipping your ship around to get within range of your opponent, firing off your shots, and maneuvering out of the way before they can retaliate is actually pretty exhilarating. Do enough damage, and you can sink the ship or board the enemy vessel to take on the rival captain.